About Adobe's acquisition of design tool 'Figma' EU to conduct investigation of antitrust violations

It turns out that the EU is preparing to investigate whether the acquisition of the design tool `` Figma '' announced by Adobe in September 2022 violates the antitrust law.

Adobe's $20bn deal to acquire Figma under threat from EU investigation | Financial Times

Adobe's $20 bln deal to acquire Figma under threat from EU regulators - FT

In September 2022, Adobe announced the acquisition of Figma, a design management tool. The acquisition amount was 20 billion dollars (approximately 2.86 trillion yen at the rate at that time), and it was stated that the brand would survive after the acquisition.

However, it was reported that the acquisition by Adobe, which can be said to be almost one of the strongest in the design industry, is regarded as ``elimination of competition,'' and that the US Department of Justice is suing for antitrust violations.

Newly, the news site Finaltial Times reported that the EU antitrust authorities are preparing to conduct a formal investigation within 2023, based on information obtained from four people involved.

In the EU, when such a large-scale acquisition is made, most of the cases will be investigated for several months called 'Phase 1', but Adobe's Figma acquisition case is called 'Phase 2', more detailed. An investigation is expected. Phase 2 will take several months longer than Phase 1, and it is possible that the acquisition agreement will eventually be broken.

Regarding this matter, Adobe claims that only 10% of users used both Photoshop and Figma, so there is little duplication of users and it is not a ``killer acquisition'' that buys competitors in overlapping markets. doing.

Adobe is in preliminary discussions with each regulatory authority. It is not yet clear whether the acquisition will be finally approved.